Winter's Child by Margaret Coel Read Free Book Online

little groups, sipping coffee in Styrofoam cups, glancing over at Lacy and Julie and shaking their heads. “Do you have a minute?” Vicky realized that Evie had fallen in beside her and was guiding her toward a side door.
    â€œWe can talk in here,” the woman said, depositing her in a smallroom with the look and feel and smell of a study. A masculine study, where Clint Hopkins had sat at the desk, file folders upright in a metal rack and a laptop computer, open as if Clint had just stepped away.
    â€œDo you really believe it?” Evie closed the door against the hum of conversation and the odor of coffee.
    â€œBelieve what?”
    â€œIt was an accident.”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    The woman turned partway toward the window and looked out, clasping and unclasping her hands. The blue dress clung to the curves of her hips and calves. “It’s just that . . .” She faced Vicky again. Her glasses looked smudged and cloudy with moisture. “I’ve been worried about Clint. He spent the past two weeks working on the Little Shield case. He wanted you to come in with him. I’ve never seen him so obsessed. Oh, Clint was always obsessed with whatever case he was working on, but this was different. I could see it taking a toll.”
    â€œDid he say what was he worried about?”
    Evie shook her head. “He was never one to blab about a case, but he talked to various people and did research on the internet. The more information he collected, the more uptight he became. When I heard what happened last night, I got a sickening feeling. What if he’d stumbled onto something he wasn’t supposed to know?”
    â€œHave you told the police?”
    She dropped her head into both hands for a moment, then looked up. She straightened the little wireless glasses. “All I have is a strange feeling. I guess I’m just looking for a rational explanation, and the truth is, there isn’t any. All Clint cared about was getting little Mary Ann legally adopted by the people who loved her. The last thing hewould want is for me to start stirring up trouble. If I went to the police with my crazy feeling, they’d open an investigation. I can’t do that to the Little Shields.” She held out a hand as if she were soliciting alms. “I went into the office this morning to contact a few of his associates. Make sure the file drawers were locked, the computers locked. I canceled his appointments. Tidying up, I guess, because I didn’t know what else to do. The phone was ringing off the hook. Eldon called the minute he heard about Clint. I could tell by his voice how upset he was. He trusted Clint. He wanted to know what they should do now, so I told him Clint wanted you to cocounsel the case. I suggested he call you.”
    Vicky remained quiet a moment. If her instincts were right—if the secretary’s instincts were right—she could be stepping into whatever had gotten Clint killed. If he was murdered, he must have been apprehensive about what he’d uncovered. Still, he had gone forward because of a little girl.
    â€œClint gave me some notes to read over,” she said. “There’s nothing in them he hadn’t mentioned when we spoke.”
    The secretary drew in her bottom lip again, a habit, Vicky thought. It made her look like a child, except for the pencil lines that formed on her forehead. “I’m afraid he was somewhat paranoid. Kept very sparse notes and put very little on the computer, you know, in case somebody hacked it. He kept everything in his head, and he was very thorough. I hope you can help the Little Shields.”
    â€œI can talk to them. I don’t know if I can help.”
    Evie looked startled, as if Vicky had thrown out an idea she hadn’t considered. “Clint was sure you would know how to handle the case.”
    â€œIf I take it on, I’ll need his records.”
    â€œI told you: